Looking out across the majestic Firth of Forth, 20 miles down the road from Edinburgh at North Berwick, it's hard to believe this is the first time I've ever sailed in Scotland. In fact I think this is the first time in four years I've competed at a championship not on the south coast. It's a strange phenomenon that with faster cars and more motorways, the sailing fraternity seems far less adventurous with its venues than it was 20 or 30 years ago. Maybe it's because there are more cars on the road and the prospect of getting stuck in a traffic jam is greater than ever, but I also think it's a lot to do with the cash rich/time poor modern world. We want ready-fitted boats with spinnaker sheets cut to the perfect length when we make our purchase, and we want our sailing venues right on our doorstep. I have to admit that this is one of the great things about racing the 14 this year, because 80 per cent of our racing takes place in and around Chichester Harbour, with 40 or more boats based in the area. At the end of the weekend you just fling the cover on, and whiz home in the car, with no worry about keeping to 60mph speed limits with a boat on the back.

Talking of speed limits, if you're coming up to Scotland yourself this year on the A1, just beyond the "Welcome to Scotland" sign you'll find the first of many speed cameras. A welcome to bonnie Scotland if ever there was one. I have to admit I took the easy option of flying from Southampton to Edinburgh while the helmsman drove the boat up. But whichever way you get here and however long it takes, arriving in North Berwick reminds you why it is worth travelling just once in a while, especially to place that you haven't experienced before. I'm pleased to learn that the RS 400s and 200s are following us here just a fortnight later. This is a wonderful place for sailing. Yes, the weather can be positively autumnal at times - even in late July - while the south coast is basking in a heat wave. But we've had our share of hot weather here too, along with the fact that the scenery is beautiful, the beer is cheap, and the wind looks like it has some oomph to it. Perhaps more important than anything, because the whole fleet is miles from home, we can't all run back home at the end of racing and leave the clubhouse bar empty. This is the malaise of south coast championships and open meetings, where the majority of the fleet lives close by and tends to head home for the evening, with no possibility of a class social taking place. When you're ‘abroad', you have to make your own entertainment amongst your fellow sailors, and the social life is all the richer for it.

In the venerable 14 fleet the traditions flow through the class as strongly off the water as they do out at sea. As a member of the Crew's Union, you are required to wear the appropriate class tie all day every Friday, every week of the year, or suffer the consequences if any fellow Union members spot the fact that you have forgotten your tie. The resulting forfeit is to buy all tie-wearing members drinks for the rest of the evening. And to maintain your status in the Union, you have to complete one tack and one gybe each year. And then of course there is the fact that we are here in Scotland for a week to decide the National Championships, which in the case of the International 14 is based on one race, The Race, the Prince of Wales Cup on Tuesday. The fact that there are three races beforehand and four races afterwards is neither here nor there, as far as the old sea dogs of the 14 fleet are concerned. The POW Cup is the Big One, a six lap marathon with a stated time limit of six hours, a winner-takes-all format that has thrown up some surprise winners over the years.

Whether or not the Olympics ever reaches that do-or-die level of one race to decide everything is unlikely. It would be a spectator's dream, but would perhaps be  a little unfair on the competitors. Sailors generally want a longer race series to iron out the luck of the wind and other unpredictable factors. But having reported last issue on the President's Cup idea that was trialled for the first time at the 49er European Championships in Lake Garda, I'm more and more convinced that the class has hit upon a format that could really shape the future of Olympic and other spectator-oriented races. Irish 49er representative Tom Fitzpatrick watched the finalists competing in the prize-money final. "I like the idea that only the top three teams compete in the Presidents Cup. Medal winners will be decided from six days of traditional racing and it is only the colour of medal they will race for."

Aussie former World Champion Chris Nicholson was the winning helm of the three-way final and had to this to say. "I am in support of the idea that the winner in the last race is the overall winner of the event.  This is obviously a swing away from our traditional form of obtaining a winner from up to seven days of fleet racing.  Fleet racing is obviously our core form of racing and I do have some concern as to the numbers of boats which have the opportunity to win ‘gold'.  Most sailors have some concern that after such extensive fleet racing, a 5th place boat has the opportunity to quickly overtake a 1st place boat. I think there is better acceptance of a three-boat final where we have only the medallists who fight it out for the medals."

So if this is extended to major Championships in the future, the first five days of the event will be merely to decide the major players for the three-way showdown. If the best sailors in the fleet are happy with this - ie, those potentially with the most to lose - then it should be good enough for the rest of us. This and other recent innovations - such as ISAF's aborted attempt to introduce no-discard series at the forthcoming Games - are all about keeping the contest open to more people for a greater length of time.

Someone used to winning plenty of Fireball races, Vyv Townend, picked up on my recent report about the Lark and National 12 fleets, and the way they are looking after the older boats at their racing events. Apparently the Fireball is also very active and innovative in this area. Vyv writes: "Two years ago we introduced the idea of the ‘Classic Fireball'.  We would have liked to have had a simple definition, eg sail number 14000 and prior, but unfortunately Malcolm Davies is still winning Worlds races in his Delange 13945 built in 1987 (he was 4th at this years Worlds in Adelaide) which complicated matters somewhat."

The ongoing competitiveness of the Delange and Winder hulls speaks volumes for modern construction materials and techniques, but presented the class with a dilemma about how to define a Classic. "What we have ended up with is a formula depending on boat builder. In essence boats of sail number around 14000 and prior, are Classics, with exceptions made for Delanges and Winders which have a different cut-off. At Nationals and opens all boats start together but prizes are awarded to the first few Classic boats."

At this year's Symmetric Grand Prix the class has gone one step further by giving the Classic Fireball its own PY in recognition of the fact that they aren't quite as quick as the modern Winder. Interest in the Classic seems to be really taking off, according to Vyv. "There is a specific forum on our website dedicated to the Classic Fireball where Classic Fireballers swap info on things like how best to stiffen up a centreboard case on a 25-year-old Chippendale hull etc. The initiative has been far more successful than we ever thought and the camaraderie within the Classic Fleet is very strong. The battle to be first Classic at the Nationals appears to be taken just as seriously as the battle for the actual National Championship."

An ageing design that is undergoing a full development programme out in the USA, is the 505 class. Dave Ovington built two Rondar 505s earlier this year to be shipped out to California, where software millionaire Philippe Kahn has put together a small armada of boats in a big push for glory at the 505 World Championships in Santa Cruz this August. Apparently he is trialling just about every known combination of fast Five-Oh gear, from hulls, to masts, to sails, to foils. You may remember it was Shark Kahn, Philippe's 14-year-old son, who won a highly competitive Melges 24 Worlds in San Francisco last year. Father and son will be steering separate boats at the 505 Worlds, along with training partners Morgan Larson (470 Olympic silver medallist) and his crew Trevor Baylis (14 and 18-foot World Champion). It will be interesting to see what their development programme uncovers. In the longer term the Pegasus campaign plans to build its own 505s, but it's hard to imagine they'll find much new that hasn't been tried already. As our own World Championship hope Ian Pinnell points out, the greatest gains are likely to come from rigs and foils. But with the Melges example, Kahn has proven that he is not only capable of throwing a lot of money at a project, but that he is also pretty good at making it work for him. In the past the 505 was a hotbed of new development ideas, whereas it has been somewhat dormant in recent years, the bigger spinnaker excepted. Perhaps Kahn's injection of resources and enthusiasm will galvanise a resurgence of interest in the class.